Americans don't trust e-commerce anymore

According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), for the first time in the last three years Customer satisfaction with the e-commerce dropped 2% to a score of 80 on a 100-point scale. The decrease was driven by a dramatic fall in customer satisfaction with online brokerages, which were hit hard by the fallout from the financial crisis that erased billions of dollars of investment capital.

The annual ACSI e-commerce report published on Tuesday by the University of Michigan with e-commerce partner ForeSee Results, measures customer satisfaction with online retail, online brokerage, and online travel. The economic downturn has been toughest on the online financial services industry, which plummets 6.3% to 74 on the ACSI’s 100-point scale.

Concerning online brokerage, each of the individual estimated online brokerage firms also drops in customer satisfaction. TD Ameritrade suffers the biggest decline in score of all measured companies in the industry, diving 11% to 71. This is the second largest decline of all 200+ companies estimated by the ACSI in 2008 either online or offline, and the company’s financials directly reflect customer dissatisfaction. In January 2009, TD Ameritrade reported that first-quarter profits fell 23%.

Customer satisfaction with online travel remains unchanged in aggregate year-over-year, though the industry has been slowly decreasing since 2002. The industry is going to need more than a boost in customer satisfaction in the wake of what industry experts predict to be the worst year for business and leisure travel since 2002.

Regarding to online retail it slips 1.2% to 82 after a three year climb. A big decline by one of the largest and most prominent e-retailers eBay, pulls down the aggregate score. eBay registers its worst performance ever, dropping 4% to 78. The leading online auction company is losing its edge, as discounts become harder to find and competition for goods drives prices higher. However Amazon continues to be one of the best performing companies in all of ACSI, despite a 2% drop to 86. The company reported strong financials and its best holiday shopping season ever. But record numbers of shoppers may have increased the incidence of shipping errors and other customer service gaps.